Top-10 Coolest Robot Masters

This time around I bring you the ten Robot Masters which I think are, simply put, the coolest looking. When I did my top-10 favourites, I tried to keep it varied and also tried not to favour any particular game, which meant that I avoided picking simply the coolest Robot Masters from each game. However, this time, it’s all about appearances pure and simple.

However, there are just a ton of cool Robot Masters and this is why it was kinda hard to pick the absolute coolest ones from each game. As a result, there are no less than three honourable mentions this time around. I struggled for a while whether to have Elec or Fire Man on the list and in the end I decided that the original fire-master deserved an honourable mention. There wasn’t enough room on the list for two Robot Masters from Mega Man 4, so unfortunately Skull Man got left off the list. However, he is just incredibly cool-looking so I think he definitely deserves a shout-out. And finally, Mega Man 9 didn’t have any extremely cool looking Robot Masters, but I did quite like the sleek and simple design of Tornado Man, which hearkened back to the classic Robot Masters of the old days. So just because Mega Man 9 isn’t represented on the list, I thought he deserved an honourable mention as well.

And of course Mega Man 8 and 10 are not featured for obvious reasons…

10. Elec Man

Alright, if we have to start from somewhere, might as well start with the Robot Master who originally defined cool in Mega Man games, Electric Man from Mega Man 1. It really was a tough call between him and Fire Man, both of whom I consider iconic and memorable, but Elec Man is perhaps just a tad more cool than Fire Man, his colour-scheme for one is a lot more memorable.

Elec Man’s design was easily the sleekest of the first game’s otherwise quite cartoony designs. Some may note a similarity between Elec Man and Wolverine’s costumes, which in my view is not a bad thing at all. Also, Elec Man is a bad-ass mothafucka who can pretty much kill you in two or three hits.

However, I think he has been out-cooled quite a few times in future games which is why he only gets spot-10 on the list, but certainly it has been earned.

9. Freeze Man

A familiar face from the Top-10, since Freeze Man made it there on sheer coolness, it would be rather hypocritical of me not to include him on this list as well. Ironically, most of the ice-themed robot masters have never been particularly cool-looking, but Freeze Man definitely breaks the mould in this regard.

Some may speculate why other Robot Masters from Mega Man 7 didn’t make it on here like Shade Man and Slash Man. While Shade Man is sort of cool, being a robot-vampire, I think his silly coloration just makes him appear more cartoony than anything. Slash Man, despite his Wolverine claws, doesn’t really appear cool to me as much as sort of cute and fuzzy.

And as mentioned before, Freeze Man has probably my single favourite ice level from any Mega Man game, which is a plus because as a rule I hate the ice-levels in most Mega Man games.

8. Yamato Man

One thing the Mega Man 6 Robot Master roster is not… boring. Weird and quirky definitely fit the bill as well, but the key word is interesting. And while some of the Robot Masters from that game can appear almost borderline racist, at least Capcom showed that the Japanese are not afraid of making fun of themselves.

Enter Yamato Man the Robot Samurai. I mean he has the duds, the staff and every single time I see him, I feel like saying: “This is no place for a mighty warrior!” (That’s a Teen Girl Squad/Homestar Runner reference, go check it out)

Not everyone may agree on Yamato Man’s coolness, but I think he just rocks his unique oriental stylings really well and he certainly has one of the most unique names of any Robot Master I can think of. But I do think there are other Robot Masters that have him beat in the coolness department.

7. Wave Man

Although I really like the roster of Robot Masters in Mega Man 5, it was hard for me to decide which of the masters really qualified as cool. I was teetering between putting Gyro or Crystal Man on the list, but then it occurred to me that you don’t need to be sleek in order to be cool. In that regard, one of my favourite unique, cool designs from this game had to go to Wave Man.

Wave Man appears as if he should be Bubble Man 2.0, but he is actually his own unique boss. He’s another Robot with scuba-gear, but he carries it off with much more confidence than Bubble Man. The guy is wearing a frickin’ crown! And for some reason I’ve always dug his harpoon.

Not only that, Wave Man has one of my favourite levels in Mega Man 5 which is also pretty darn cool. He’s not quite as memorable as some of the other robots on the list, but my personal favourite.

6. Quick Man

The picks from Mega Man 2 for this list were almost ridiculously easy. Quick Man was an obvious pick. Just look at him. He’s sleek, he’s fast and he uses deadly homing boomerangs as weapons. Quick Man is one slick mothafucka and no mistake.

However, I’ve always had a conflicted relationship with Quick Man. Sure, I like him fine now, but for the longest time I really hated him and his stage in Mega Man 2. Both were severely anxiety inducing, with the instant death lasers and Quick Man himself being one of the harder bosses in the game. Your only solace was that his lacking AI might sometimes give you the necessary edge in a boss-fight.

But it’s a no brainer to have Quick Man on here, but childhood traumas caused by his stage are still strong enough for me not wanting to put him in the top-5.

5. Snake Man

Here’s one classic Mega Man 3 master who I really wanted to have in the top-10, but couldn’t because there was no room for him. However, now that I got a second chance, of course, I had to have him in the top-5 for this list. Snake Man is just sleek as all hell. Even his facial expression is incredibly smug.

Plus, need I remind you that this Robot Master lines his entire level in snake-skin. That’s sort of creepy but also kinda cool and definitely the reason why I remember him so well. Even in his boss-fight, he’s cool as fuck and takes his time strolling back and forth the battle arena. His weapon is a little weak, yeah, but I still think he’s just hella cool.

Snake Man is an animal themed Robot Master who just totally owns and inhabits his persona. He’s one of my all time favourites from Mega Man 3 and definitely deserves his spot in the top-5.

4. Knight Man

Yet another familiar face from the Top-10. I’ve already explained why I think Knight Man is so awesome so it’s really hard for me to think of any more reasons why he deserves to be up here. One thing perhaps which I never understood about the robot construction competition in Mega Man 6 was who were all the other contestants that participated? And who were so awesome that they built Knight Man? The British?

Not to mention that his level is a frickin’ castle rigged with high-tech death-traps, so somebody really went through a lot of trouble to make sure Knight Man had the most bad-ass milieu of all the other robots in the competition. And where the heck was Dr. Cossack when this whole thing was going on? Then again, that might have lead to the creation of the most offensive Robot Master of all time: Vodka Man.

So yeah, Spartan style helmet, medieval suit of armour, shield and spiky ball of death. These are the awesome things Knight Man is made of. ‘Nuff said.

3. Pharaoh Man

Once again, yet another familiar face from the Top-10, it’s becoming kind of hard to come up with funny stuff to say about Pharaoh Man since I already listed all his cool attributes in the top-10. Pharaoh Man is just the crowning example that you can have a bizarrely named Robot Master and have him look awesome.

As I mentioned before, it’s sort of odd how well science fiction and Ancient Egypt come together so seamlessly. Just look at Star-Gate or Gamma Ray’s Somewhere Out in Space album. Maybe it’s just that Egyptians are so inherently cool that once you combine it with something else awesome, it becomes extra cool.

And now I feel like I’m already repeating my original description of Knight Man who already is on this list, so let’s just move along…

2. Shadow Man

This is another Mega Man 3 Robot Master I’ve been wanting to highlight and for an obvious reason. He is, no doubt, the favourite of almost anyone who’s played Mega Man 3. His name is awesome, his level has frickin’ lava and did I already mention… he’s a fucking ninja.

Yes, Shadow Man certainly peeks the coolness meter in almost all of his attributes. He even dresses like a ninja, a robot-ninja. As we’ve established before, the way to making awesome Robot Masters is by combining them with something that is already super-awesome. He even throws shurikens as a weapon which is pretty damn awesome.

So why isn’t Shadow Man number-1? Only one reason: his weakness… is the frickin’ Top Spin (refer back to the Bottom-10 Worst Robot Masters list).

1. Metal Man

I guess it wasn’t a big surprise that my favourite Robot Master would also be number-1 on this list as well. Because any way you look at it, Metal Man is just incredibly cool.

He looks cool, I like the red and yellow coloration, the blades and the face-mask. His name is cool, in fact, it’s positively fuckin’ metal. And he uses circular-saw blades as weapons. I have not seen anything that awesome outside Commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Metal Man is in fact so cool that I like him in spite of the fact that he’s the easiest boss in Mega Man 2. And of course, like I mentioned before, he has one of my favourite levels, my favourite stage theme and the best Master Weapon in the whole game.

Metal Man is the epitome of coolness in the Mega Man series, no questions asked.